Suspenders.



' No. 820,562. PATENTEDMAY l5, 1906.

` W.- FREEMAN.

SUSPBNDBRS.

APPLICATION FILED SEPT. 2B, 1905.

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UNITED sTATEs PATENT oEEioE.

Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 15, 1906.

Application filed September 28, 1905. Serial No. 280,487.

To a/ZZ whom, t may con/cern:

Be it known that I, WILLIAM FREEMAN, a resident of New York, in thecounty of New York and State of New York, have invente-d certain new anduseful Improvements in Suspenders; and I do hereby declare the followingto be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such aswill enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make anduse the same.

My invention relates to improvements in Suspenders, and moreparticularly to the construction of back loop connecting the back strapsand shoulder-straps, the object of the invention being to provideimprovements of this character which will insure comfort to the user andpermit free movement of the shoulder-straps without danger of crowdingin the loop or accumulation of material or other enlargement at the loopto the discomfort of the wearer g and the invention consists in certainnovel features of construction and combinations and arrangements ofparts, as will be more fully hereinafter described, and pointed out inthe claims.

It is old in the art of Suspenders to provide a loop comprising threeparallel bars for connecting either front or back straps with theshoulder-straps and so locating the shoulderstraps around the bars as topermit the straps to move with the body of the wearer, and I do notclaim such idea broadly; but by constructing my improved loop with itsmiddle or central bar projected outward into a different plane from thetop and bottom bars and by securing a metal plate rigidly to the lowerbar I produce a loop which not only renders the movement of theshoulder-straps easy, but also greatly adds to the comfort of thewearer, as no accumulation of material is formed at the loop or otherenlargement to press into the wearers back, and the result is a distinctimprovement in the art.

In Athe accompanying drawings, Figure l is a back view of a suspender,illustrating my improvements. Fig. 2 is a view in section on the line a:Qc thereof. Fig. 3 is a view of the loop detached, and Fig. 4 is a viewof a modified construction of loop.

1 represents my improved loop, which comprises three parallel bars 2, 3,and 4, the center or middle bar 3 being Vprojected outward into a planeoutside of the plane of bars 2 and 4, and all of said bars are connectedtogether, forming a single article. This loop may be formed in variousways, one form the plate.

shown being constructed of a wire bent to form bars 2 and 4 and havinginwardly-projecting and outwardly-flaring bends, on which a tubularsheet-metal bar 3 is secured, the bends upon which bar 3 is securedbeing formed by pressing together the wires between bars 2 and 4 andbeing curved outward, as shown.

Another form of loop is shown in Fig. 4, which is stamped from sheetmetal, and the center bar 3 is projected outward by the stampingoperation, and the loops may be made in various other ways, and I do notrestrict myself to any particular manner of constructing the same.

Secured to the lower bar 4 is a metal plate 5, of triangular or othershape. This plate is rigidly secured to the bar in any desired manner,and the back straps 6 when passed over the lower bar 4 are folded downon opposite sides of the plate 5, inclosing the latter, and lines ofstitching are provided around When the plate is thus secured between theback straps, the latter cannot move upward on bar 4, and hence cannotcrowd the shoulder-straps, as will more fully hereinafter appear.

The back straps 6, as above stated, are secured around the lower bar 4,and the shoulder-straps 7 are passed loosely around the bars 2 and 3,one shoulder-strap being passed under bar 2 and secured to the othershoulder-strap, and the last-mentioned shoulderstrap is passed below bar3 and secured to the first-mentioned shoulder-strap, which allows theshoulder-straps to move in the loop to compensate for differentpositions of the wearers body.

By locating the middle or center bar 3 outside of the plane of bars 2and 4 and away from the wearers body the shoulder-straps are givengreater freedom of movement and the suspender is rendered morecomfortable to the wearer, not only for such reason, but because theback of the suspender at the loop is perfectly smooth, as there is noaccumulation of material or metal at this point to press into the backof the user, and the metal plate 5 will absolutely prevent crowding inthe loop to interfere with the perfect operation of the suspender.

Slight changes might be made in the general form and arrangement of theparts described without departing from my invention, and hence I wouldhave it understood that I do not restrict myself to the precise ITOdetails set forth, but consider myself at liberty to make such sli htchanges and altera tions as fairly Jfall wit in the spirit and scope ofmy invention.

Having fully described my invention, what I claim as new, and desire tosecure by Letters Patent, is-

1. In Suspenders, the combination of a metal loop, shoulder-strapspassing freely through said loop, a back strap passing over the bottombar of the loop and overlapped, and a plate attached to said bottom barof the loop and secured between the overlapping portions of the backstrap.

2. A loop for connecting the back and shoulder straps of Suspenders,comprising three parallel bars, the center bar being projected outwardfrom the plane of the upper and lower bars, and a plate secured to thelower bar and constructed to be secured between the back straps toprevent them from crowding into the loop. Y

3. In a suspender, the combination with two shoulder-straps and backstraps, of a metal loop comprising three parallel bars, the center barbeing projected outward in a different plane from the top and bottombars, and said shoulder-straps being passed around the top and centerbar respectively and secured to each other, and a metal plate secured tothe lower bar and secured between the back straps by stitching, toprevent crowding in the loop.

In testimony whereof I have signed this specification in the presence oftwo subscribing witnesses.

WILLIAM FREEMAN. Witnesses:

J. E. KEIGHTLEY, J. R. HAYNER.

